Southampton Banter Archive August 09 2015

09 Aug 2015 17:07:52
Entertaining first game of the season, I might be in the minority with this opinion but I thought in the end that was the fairest result.

The first half was very un-Saints like, nervy at the back which led to a number of errors. But also that came down to the fact Newcastle are a rejuvenated side who were prepared to attack for once, fair play to them, they'll have given both Koeman and hopefully Les Reed a bit of food for thought.

The team showed real character in the second half, although our possesion was still disjointed at times, it made the equaliser seem even more representative of the fact this team can be clinical and get something out of nothing.

And the other positive I thought was the fact both our goals came from crosses, that's an area of our game we have desperately needed to improve on, hopefully that continues.

I fully expect us to win next weekend, first game at home, Koeman should be back on the touchline, and the defensive shortfalls from today will be reviewed to make sure next week we are a much more harder machine to breakdown and defend against.

COYR!

09 Aug 2015 18:55:05
29 I like you post but we were pretty poor defensively today , seems odd but we had problems last season creating chances and our superb defence sorted us out . Seems we have gone full circle now and look very dodgy at the back. We should have won that game today and I am amazed that Sadio was not at his ruthless best .

09 Aug 2015 18:57:25
spot on. newcastle controlled the game better apart from maybe the last 20 minutes. we had the better chances but could of easily conceeded 1 if not 2 penalties on a different day. perfect impact from long he is starting to look more and more like a 12m player as crazy as that sounds.

09 Aug 2015 22:03:54
The defensive performance was below the standard we all know Koeman has set so hopefully when we play Everton next week that will have been rectified.

I think where Cedric got his card early into the game, it discouraged him from putting in the challenge which is why Newcastle had a lot of success down the right wing in the first half. Targett still has a lot to learn, but in his defence Sissoko and a surprisingly very pacey Obertan interchanging during the match would of been a lot to handle for most left backs in the league. Fonte seemed to have an off day, I thought Yoshida played the better of the two.

Do you think the formation was wrong?

I thought a contributing factor to why Newcastle bossed much of the possesion was that we didn't pack the midfield out as we would have done had Clasie been fit. If that had been the case I think Mane would of been on the left with Jay Rod dropped to the bench, and Davis would have played in front of Wanyama and Clasie adding an extra hand to our defence.

10 Aug 2015 00:45:53
Not sure that Clasie will ever be a Morgan , just too small and is also not strong enough in the tackle . Defensively we would have been crucified by a better team today .

10 Aug 2015 01:42:50
down the right was sissoko and obertan v targett, trying to exploit the youngster not cedric but your point remains about him having to tread carefully. that wasnt how we will shape up most games and I feel j wasnt and isn't quite ready yet but game time is of equal importance in getting him back to his best. we should of played reed with wanyama imo, and had mane davis tadic pelle. seems we sacrificed our shape because of clasie and getting J game time. the different shape seemed to confuse a few of the lads. RoKo probably expected us to still get a result, which we did. davis was outstanding, still under rated. have to say the prospect of JRod, Mane, Pelle and Tadic is mouth watering to say the least. when these guys gel!

10 Aug 2015 08:16:37
Sorry to say esso but I just think that won't work out. With modern football continuing to involve I think leaving two players in midfield and play 4 very attacking minded players might leave us exposed. Last season we had a very good midfield three of Spider, Vic, and Davis/JWP. Playing those 4 players u mentioned might scare opposition defences but it also leaves us vulnerable. Just my opinion.

10 Aug 2015 08:54:36
Totally, Reed would have been well placed for much of this game. However I also get why we tried an attacking line-up ourselves, Newcastle's defence is worse than ours, maybe not so much on the day, but I would say they are normally easier to exploit, and we were still the team that were unlucky not to win by the end of it.

10 Aug 2015 11:53:36
Just a small point about yesterday's game and the way we conceded their goals . We did something during the game that we didn't do much of last season and that was we gave the ball away too easily when we were in possession and high up the pitch . Their second goal was directly down to Targett giving the ball away with a terrible pass and not being able to get back , very strange . Most games I have seen him play he very rarely crosses the half way line as an attacking force so maybe now we know why . Ryan Bertrand when fit will give us more strength and adaptability on the left , Targett great prospect but not quite ready for PL yet in my opinion.

10 Aug 2015 12:41:41
wanyama and reed holding, davis in the centre, mane tadic wings, pelle up top. same shape we played most of last year just with reed in place of spider. its more defensive than what we actually played.

11 Aug 2015 18:07:42
Where was Targetts cover?? The lad was exposed and Jay Rod showed his rustiness. Cedric a little unused to the pace and we were up against a club with a new manager (a very dangerous task.) Otherwise, a pretty decent performance and one which doesn't need major surgery to show we can be top 6 this season. Bertrand and Classie still to feature and possibly 2-3 more additions. Looks good to me.

09 Aug 2015 14:27:33
1-1 h/t. Flukey, yet deserved equaliser for Newcastle. They could've had a hat full.

My concerns pre-season about the the shape of the side being wrong have been borne out so far. Midfield overrun, defence exposed, completely disjointed in possession. Four forwards doesn't work, not with just Wanyama behind them as the only midfielder who can tackle.

Cedric looks good going forward, but defensively he's a total liability. He won't finish the game - either subbed off or sent off.

Targett on the other side hasn't been any better. Yoshida's all at sea.

I'd take a point from here.

09 Aug 2015 15:34:20
2-2 f/t. Two brilliant headers from Pelle and Long rescue a point, after a pretty abject performance.

Finished the stronger side, to be fair, and Mane had two chances to steal the points in injury time.

But Koeman, watching from hospital, has got plenty to think about after that. A new centre back and a strong DMC are a must. Steven Davis did an admirable job filling in today (especially as Wanyama was half-asleep the whole time), but that's not his position.

Sorry to say, Targett just wasn't up to it. He and Cedric were the two worst players on the park. Get well soon, Bertrand.

Anyway, we're on the board. Just don't expect a repeat of the defensive excellence of last season with this line up and balance.

11 Aug 2015 21:51:47
Would we still "steal" the points if Yoshida had taken his chance or Jay Rod his??

Yes, Cedric needs to adapt to the pace of the Premiership (what a surprise!) and Targett was exposed due to being left isolated. OMG we are doomed because RoKo will be unable to rectify such faults.

So, Targett who played against better sides last season is now not up to it? I do find your analyses very odd. From under 11 football upwards you get a full back isolated without someone helping him out when needed there will be problems. This does not make Targett a poor player. I remember Shaw having a similar problem against Chelsea (?) and Poch brought on the mighty Fox to play left mid. and suddenly everything was sorted. Possibly not the option to follow if you are chasing the game, but it does demonstrate how such problems can be sorted pretty readily.

I see a lot of potential in our squad for this season and can quite understand the club taking their time to sign the last pieces into the jigsaw. I agree with what we still need to add, but the club are pretty aware of the same and I'm sure it will happen. Until then, I suspect it will be all too easy to see we do not have the perfect squad. (If it wasn't we would not be looking to sign anyone else!)

12 Aug 2015 12:05:26
I think the main reason Targett was exposed was due to not having Morgan in the side who as I have said before used his physical ability to stop some counter attacks especially on the left hand side . It is not possible to not miss him , in some ways he was the engine room of the side and unfortunately it will take a while to find the misfire and sort it.